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When I moved to L.A., I had no intention of really pursuing acting. I wanted to focus on stand-up. It's crazy to me that my acting career took off much faster than my stand-up career.
Nico Santos -
I hate that femininity in a gay men is a 'stereotype.'
Nico Santos
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My dad was undocumented for a period of time, my mom was also undocumented for a period of time.
Nico Santos -
My brother joined the Army. He served multiple tours in Iraq and now lives in Texas with his family.
Nico Santos -
People with accents exist and just because they have an accent doesn't mean they're less intelligent or what-have-you.
Nico Santos -
It still baffles my brain that I actually get to portray a character on American television that's this gay, femme-y Filipino guy.
Nico Santos -
I came out to one or two people in high school and then it wasn't until I was a freshman in college that I was fully out of the closet. It was like the late '90s.
Nico Santos -
The fact that I am a Filipino actor playing a Filipino role is crazy. Filipinos are the second largest Asian minority in the United States, and we're hardly represented in the media and on television.
Nico Santos
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First of all, Asian representation hardly exists to begin with.
Nico Santos -
Superstore' is, like, my fifth acting job.
Nico Santos -
I've done retail before.
Nico Santos -
We must work to change in our hearts and minds what it looks like to be undocumented. It is the high schooler dreaming of college who isn't aware of his status. It is the single mother working grueling hours in a warehouse just to provide for her children. It is the family that sits next to you in church. It is your neighbor.
Nico Santos -
What I've come to find out is it doesn't matter if you're selling a $10,000 gown or toilet paper: The everyday sort of humdrum of customer service and retail is the same.
Nico Santos -
It's really mind-boggling to me when I think about where I started and where I am now. It's kind of insane.
Nico Santos
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My brownness is something that I can't hide. There are some straight-acting or straight-passing queer people out there, but I'm not one of them. This is something I would rather not have to hide.
Nico Santos -
I often get asked which 'Superstore' episode is my favorite. That's such a hard question to answer. It's like being asked: Which of your children (and by children, I mean shoes) do you like best?
Nico Santos -
Within the Filipino community, everybody knows somebody who's undocumented.
Nico Santos -
You rarely see a Filipino family on TV.
Nico Santos -
I'm portraying out characters, I'm portraying femme characters, characters that are really outside of the box. I never thought I would get that opportunity to portray those characters at all, much less have a career that I have.
Nico Santos -
Femme people exist, and they are layered and they are complex and they are intelligent.
Nico Santos
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My intent when I moved to L.A. was to get in good with the comedy clubs and, eventually, try to break into Comedy Central and have my half hour special.
Nico Santos -
I didn't want to do Chekhov or Shakespeare. So I switched my major from acting to costume design. Eventually, I got a job working as a wardrobe assistant for a theater company. I would dress the actors, fix their costumes, do the quick changes for them and all that stuff.
Nico Santos -
In high school the very first job I got was I worked as a cashier in Burgerville, which is this fast food place in Oregon. I kind of grew up to be a spoiled little kid so my dad was like, 'You're going to get a job for the summer!' I was this clueless immigrant like, 'May I take your order? Sorry sir, I don't know what I'm doing!'
Nico Santos -
In the early '80s, my family vacationed to the United States.
Nico Santos